Medical supplies to St Maarten hospital

News item | 10-11-2017 | 14:09

The St Maarten Medical Center (SMMC), the only hospital in St Maarten, received a second shipment of medical supplies on 28 October. During hurricane Irma the SMMC’s building and medical goods sustained damage from wind and water.

The supplies in the second shipment included tetanus vaccines, incubators, infant warming systems, scanners and X-ray equipment , anaesthesia and ultrasound equipment, and stretchers.

A number of enthusiastic staff members at the Frisian hospital Nij Smellinghe and the Groningen University Medical Centre (UMCG) organised the donation, working as volunteers with the Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC) and several companies specialised in medical technology, hospital equipment and vaccines. They consulted the SMMC immediately after the hurricane to determine the hospital’s greatest needs, mainly replacing equipment that was irreparably damaged.

The SMMC reopened immediately after Irma, chiefly to treat patients with injuries resulting from the hurricane. The hospital, which has 76 beds, serves as a regional medical centre for the surrounding islands, treating patients from St Maarten, Saba and St Eustatius.